Consumers may drive many different vehicles (multiple personal vehicles, rental cars, a vehicle of a friend, a vehicle of a family member, etc). Each time a consumer changes vehicles, the consumer typically needs to configure the vehicle for personal preferences. These preferences include climate comfort settings, audio system settings, audio channel settings, seat settings, mirror settings, etc. Configuring these settings takes time and can be difficult to figure out as the consumer changes between different makes and models of vehicles. Each vehicle will have a unique method for controlling and inputting driver settings. A lack of standardization between manufactures makes configuration of settings more difficult.
One solution includes use of a key or key fob with personal settings stored thereon. A vehicle is typically supplied with 2 keys. Each key may be programmed with different personal settings. The personal settings are typically limited to a seat and a mirror position setting for a single vehicle, and cannot be used for different vehicle manufactures and lines. Certain vehicle manufacturers rely upon radio frequency (RF) communication between the key and the vehicle to transfer a code. The vehicle stores 2 or 3 different personal seat/mirror settings. Each key has a unique identifier. The vehicle recognizes which key is unlocking the vehicle and adjusts the available presets accordingly.
Another solution uses complex algorithms to convert and transfer a personalization data from a first vehicle network to a second vehicle network. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,283,902, to Heider et al., proposes a method which retrieves a personalization data in a first vehicle and converts the data from a vehicle-dependent data format used internally in the first vehicle into a portable export data having a protected vehicle-independent format. The method then provides for conversion of the protected export data into a vehicle-dependent, internal format of a second vehicle to make it available to the second vehicle. The method described in the '902 patent requires an export algorithm to translate the internal data of the first vehicle into the export data having a plurality of dynamic personalization rules. The method of the '902 patent further requires an import algorithm to analyze the dynamic personalization rules and translate the export data into an internal data usable by the second vehicle.
It would be desirable to develop an interface system and a method for transferring a personalization data, wherein the system and method provide a standardized means to transfer the personalized data between various vehicle lines and vehicle manufacturers without a two-fold conversion process.